Conrad looked at Lillian, feeling a bit conflicted.
It was as if, in this dark, narrow, suffocating space, the old fan overhead was slowly diluting the air around them.
He found it hard to breathe, his heart sinking deeper and deeper.
“You’re threatening me?”
He said it with a smile, but Lillian responded calmly, “It’s the truth, and you know it.”
Yes, this woman. He didn’t know where she got her conscience from-feeling guilty here, feeling guilty there.
But when it came to him, Conrad? She hated him without mercy.
Conrad’s eyes locked onto the guy named Osborn. “Get lost.”
Almost as soon as Conrad finished speaking, Andrew quickly covered Osborn’s mouth and dragged him out of the room.
Despite Osborn’s large size, he was completely powerless to resist as he was dragged downstairs.
When Osborn tried to rush back up, Andrew slammed him against the wall and whispered harshly, “If you want to die, go up there. This has nothing to do with you, don’t get involved.”
Osborn’s eyes reddened. He had grown up in a small town and had never seen this kind of forceful treatment before.
“What the hell do you want?!”
“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine. Think about your mom. Go home.” Andrew pointed to the door. “If you don’t leave now, you’ll really be crippled. We can’t help you.”
After all, Mr. Conrad’s orders were non-negotiable. Andrew could try to advise Mr. Conrad, but he couldn’t stop him. It was just in his nature to obey Conrad.
Osborn glanced up at the floor above, thinking about his mom. Then he remembered what Lillian had said to that man earlier. With red eyes, he punched the wall as he left the alley. When he climbed into the truck and drove away, his tears blurred his vision from the humiliation.
But when he arrived back at the market, the gate was unexpectedly shut.
Startled, he rushed home, only to find his whole family waiting for him in the living room.
“Mom, what’s going on?”
“Osborn! Where have you been? Where’s your phone?”
Osborn looked down and mumbled, “I don’t know where it went.”
“Just come in.”
“Mom, I want to report it to the police.”
“Don’t be foolish. Do you think this place is what you think it is? Swallow those words! Reporting it won’t do any good!”
******
Inside the house, the electric fan slowly spun above, making a creaking sound from its age.
Lillian sometimes feared it might fall off the ceiling and hit her in the head.
With blood splattering everywhere, if she died, no one would even bother to collect her body.
In this tense standoff, the fan’s creaking only made the situation more ridiculous.
It felt like a scene from an old movie, with him sitting in the window’s light, his brows and eyes hidden in the shadows. The enigmatic look in his eyes was unclear to her.
She sat with her head down on the old sofa by the door, the bodyguards having closed it behind her.
The sealed room.
The air around her smelled of Lillian, and it stirred in the air with every breath she took.
It was that familiar, warm scent that made his blood boil.
It was the fragrance unique to Lillian, one that only he knew.
Sometimes, he hated himself for knowing every inch of her, every little detail.
He even knew that when she woke up every day, she would blink three times, then free herself from his arms, pull back the blanket, sit up for a while, gather herself, and then go wash up.
He knew that whenever she was lost in thought in front of her computer, she would tuck a pen behind her hair. He would habitually take it out, running it through his fingers.
He loved the curve of her lifted eyelashes, her small movements while eating, and how she always kept perfect posture. It was like a little swan testing the waters of his territory, resting there once it felt safe, but always with a hint of unease.
When she wasn’t around, the room was filled with her scent.
A hair tie, a pair of slippers, a pen…
Everything had Lillian’s name on it.
He didn’t even have to think about it; his mind would automatically play back the images of her using those things.
It was as if he had started hallucinating, occasionally feeling like she was still in the room. Any second now, she would open the door and walk in.
But she didn’t. There wasn’t even the usual indifferent gaze she always had.
She ran.
Just when he had let his guard down, thinking she would stay by his side quietly, she hit him where it hurt, catching everyone around him off guard.
She ran cleanly, without leaving a trace.
He turned the world upside down, and contacted everyone he knew. If she hadn’t called Kama today, he probably wouldn’t have been able to track her down at all.
She didn’t want him.
Those words, that realization were enough to drive him crazy.
Conrad stared at her intensely.
Lillian sat there, somewhat numb. On top of that, she was hungry, so she decided to get up and make some salad.
The kitchen in this place was just separated by wooden boards.
She didn’t dare to start a fire here, so when she was hungry, she would just make a quick plate of salad to get by.
“Did I tell you to move?”
The deep voice of the man came.
Lillian bit her lip and pulled her hand back.
“Then what do you want?”
Yes, what did he want?
Actually, it wasn’t impossible.
His grandfather had taught him long ago that there were always ways.
Just like when he was six years old, there was a puppy he adored.
Among a group of hunting dogs, the one he protected was just as pitiful as him.
That dark little body hadn’t even shed its fur yet.
It would just wag its fat little tail, following him around, not caring when it fell over.
It would look at him with those dark little eyes.
But the first time he went to the military camp, during training, that stupid dog that had followed him from the Brown family was there too.
“Where did this little thing come from?”
“If you don’t take care of it, we’ll stew it for dinner.”
He didn’t like others touching his things, so he set fire to the dormitory of the person who had threatened to eat his dog.
Then, they stripped him of his shirt and hung him in the training yard as punishment.
Everyone passing by laughed at his audacity.
But three days later, he still didn’t beg for mercy, and the looks people gave him gradually changed.
They started to avoid him.
At such a young age, there was a fierce streak in him.
What would happen when he grew up?
On the fourth day, his maternal grandfather came personally.
Then he took him to the shooting range.
“Do you like guns?” his grandfather asked.
For the first time, his face showed a look of eager joy.
“Do you like them?!”
The stern voice demanded an answer.
“Yes,” he replied coldly.
“Say it louder, I can’t hear you.”
“Yes!”
“Take this gun, kill that dog with it, and you can keep it.”
That was the first time he used a gun to kill a living thing.
The target was that dog.
He hadn’t even given it a name.
He just called it “stupid thing.”
He was scared.
His grandfather stood right behind him.
“You fought your future comrades today for this dog. So, who will be your eyes in the future? Who will have your back?”
“Conrad, never tell anyone what you care about, even if it’s just a dog. It will become your weakness and lead to your downfall.”
Bang!